Both Agree to Continue 2024 Pact Signed in May

Speaking today in a video conference call, President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed a wide range of issues related to the “Strategic Partnership” pact signed in May, which agreed to keep US troops on the ground through 2024.

The two agreed to continue on with the assumption that this pact was in place, despite the US halting the transfer of the Bagram Prison over concerns that the Afghan government might conceivably give some of the detainees trials in the future.

The meat of the conversation, however, seems to have been related to the surge in green-on-blue, or “insider” attacks by Afghan forces, which have killed 51 NATO troops this year alone, including six this past weekend. The US has dramatically cut back interaction with Afghan forces, and entirely halted training.

Despite the cutback in operations, the White House insists the war remains on track and that the timetable will not be changed for the occupation.

We have "entirely halted training"? Isn´t that the only reason we are there today, in order to train the Afghans to take over the security of their country? Why would we stay behind now? Oh, because sometime in the future we intend to return to our training program, a time when things improve – in the meantime we´ll drone their families, indefinitely incarcerate their citizens without trial, continue the night raids…all in order to create that more positive training environment.

Twelve years of attacks, invasion, occupation, murder, rendition, torture, lies, drugs…in order to deprive al Qaeda of their caves in Afghanistan? How can history justify it all? What have we become as a nation? What have we become as a people?

curmudgeonvt

Walter, you seem like an intelligent person…so I'm going to assume the questions were rhetorical…if not, look around. The truths of who and what we have become are all around us. We have become our worst nightmare and the results of all our excesses and laziness are abundant and are paying us back for not caring about it all. The divisiveness that is pervasive in our society beckons to an upcoming revolution – or even internal war. Neither side is willing to give an inch of ideological ground…it is inevitable. Time to wipe the slate clean and start again. Maybe then people will care enough to stop the decline before it gets out of control…but I'm not going to bet on it.